Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 12, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleItaly plans to increase defence spending over 10 years to meet NATO targets, balancing this with public debt constraints.
ROME (Reuters) -Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Thursday said his country needs at least 10 years to raise defence spending and comply with new targets due to be agreed by NATO, adding that a deal on them could soon be reached.
Italy is one of the defence spending laggards within the Western military alliance, having spent just 1.49% of gross domestic product last year against a current target of 2%, according to NATO data.
Rome has said it would respect the 2% target in 2025, but mainly through a series of accounting changes which add to defence budget calculations items that were previously not included.
"I believe that we can do good work with NATO and arrive at The Hague summit with an agreement ready beforehand, so that NATO can demonstrate its unity," Tajani said speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The alliance leaders will meet in The Hague on June 24-25.
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, speaking in parliament, said it "is not possible" for Italy to meet U.S. requests for NATO allies to hike their defence budgets to 5% of GDP, and said an intermediate target of 3.5% "is not easy".
Italy has limited room for spending, with its massive public debt projected to rise to almost 138% of GDP in 2026 before edging down the following year.
"We are maintaining a conservative stance on the matter because we do not want other key investments, such as those on public health or social spending, to be affected", Crosetto said, adding that every government within NATO would need to discuss defence spending commitments with national parliaments.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, Claudia Cristoferi, editing by Alvise Armellini and Alistair Bell)
Italy spent just 1.49% of its gross domestic product on defence last year, which is below NATO's target of 2%.
Italy has stated it will meet the 2% target by 2025, mainly through accounting changes that include previously excluded items.
Italy has limited room for spending due to its massive public debt, projected to rise to almost 138% of GDP in 2026.
Crosetto mentioned that it is 'not possible' for Italy to meet U.S. requests for NATO allies to increase their defence budgets to 5% of GDP.
The NATO leaders will meet in The Hague on June 24-25 to discuss unity and agreements related to defence spending among member countries.
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